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Trucker of the Year: Page 5

Trucker of the Year
Owner-op overcomes physical challenge for successful career
Despite being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and being eligible for 100% disability more than three decades ago, owner-operator Steve Massat's love of the business has kept him going since buying his first truck in 1988.
August 29, 2023
Steve Massat's 1989 Marmon 57P
Overdrive Radio
She makes car-haul look easy: Trucker of the Month Crystal Rives
After hauling in the Texas oilfields as well as side dump, end dump, and liquid-bulk tanker and more, she's growing a base of car-haul customers under her own shingle. All this while guided by lessons learned from her grandfather.
August 7, 2023
Overdrive Radio sponsored by Howes youtube thumbnail
Trucker of the Year
Owner-operator Crystal Rives makes hay of car-haul work in Texas
'She's got her business in line' -- that's the single biggest thing that makes owner-operator Rives an inspiration to fellow car haulers, in the words of one. Seven years into business with authority, she's serving Texas-based customers intrastate.
July 28, 2023
Crystal Rives and her 2006 Peterbilt 379 and Cottrell trailer
Overdrive Radio
Writing the book on trucking as an independent: Owner-operator Debbie Desiderato
Overdrive's June Trucker of the Month is not afraid to tell it like it is -- nor to give back in the form of advice for those coming up, always willing to share the tools and processes she's built for her success.
July 3, 2023
Overdrive Radio 6 30 Youtube
Trucker of the Year
Master management, mechanical prowess pay off for 20-year independent
Her 27 years in trucking and two decades as an independent have played out in numerous niches, leading her to where she is today, hauling for a direct shipper customer pulling a van, and hauling logs as a side gig.
June 27, 2023
Debbie Desiderato with Western Star hauling logs
Overdrive Radio
Trucking with authority, take two: Another run at independence for owner-operator Matthew Karr
"Strike when the market's cold" -- you could consider it a maxim for the outlook on small business for Overdrive May Trucker of the Month Matthew Karr, coming off an excellent profit year hauling fuel leased. Run through his history on Overdrive Radio.
June 12, 2023
Youtube
Trucker of the Year
Trucking his way: Matthew Karr, May Trucker of the Month, puts out his shingle as K-Mac Trucking
Having learned lessons the hard way (early struggles in a lease-purchase, later with too-quick growth as a small fleet owner), for owner-op Karr the last very-big years have set him up well for his current chapter, hauling fuel as a one-truck independent.
May 30, 2023
For his recent move back to running with his authority, the 2023 Polar fuel-haul, four-hole, 9,500-gal. trailer is his most recent purchase, likely his last for quite a time.
Trucker of the Year
Nominate an owner-operator or enter yourself: Two months left to compete for 2023 Trucker of the Year
Get your nominations in before the end of July to compete for top honors and one of 12 monthly semi-finalist nods. Here's a rundown of those who've been featured so far, through April Trucker of the Month Jay Hosty.
May 15, 2023
Toty Thumbnail
Overdrive Radio
Squeeze is on: Frugality only goes so far after getting used to $4/mile freight
Owner-operator Jay Hosty, our April Trucker of the Month, has nonetheless held tight when confronted with the prospects of anything below $2.50-$3/mile -- in this podcast, dive in with News Editor Matt Cole's long look at Hosty's business history.
May 5, 2023
overdrive radio podcast with trucker of the year 2023
Trucker of the Year
Katrina nearly wiped him out, but the owner-op prevailed with tight focus on costs
Jay Hosty began his trucking career as an owner-operator in 1981 at the age of 19. Since the beginning, his business focus has honed in on per-mile costs. That, mixed with his own frugality, have led to a long, successful career.
April 26, 2023
Jay Hosty 2006 Western Star
Overdrive Radio
Making all of it work, and then some: Illinois-headquartered Pulli Express
On Overdrive Radio: This husband/wife duo, March Trucker of the Month Pulli Express, excels in the art of juggling life and work on the road, running three trucks between them and an owner-operator leased. What else? Four young children at home.
April 14, 2023
Youtube
Trucker of the Year
'Everything is a lesson' -- Pulli Express Inc.'s path to profits through continual adjustment
Owner-operators Tim and Shelley Puzek-Pulli's steady-as-she-goes approach to their two-decade-old owner-operator business, now a three-truck fleet, got a shot in the arm in 2012, after a crash launched in-house reckoning, big shifts in management.
March 27, 2023
Shelly and Tim and the whole family.
Trucker of the Year
Team Dreamline: Success designed, executed for a long-term home
The owner-operator dream team hauls leased to Southern Pride Trucking, the culmination of about a decade spent designing and executing their plan for a long-term home as business owners. Hear their story on Overdrive Radio here.
March 10, 2023
overdrive radio
Trucker of the Year
Team owner-operators’ unique path to trucking success
February Truckers of the Month Chris and Ruth Smith took something of an unconventional path to ownership over the course of nearly 30 years, but now the team is banking big profits hauling jet engines for Southern Pride Trucking.
February 27, 2023
Chris and Ruth Smith's Beverly II 2020 Peterbilt 389
Trucker of the Year
How to be 'as bad as an accountant' to ensure long-term success
January's owner-operator Trucker of the Month tells his story, from his start as a flatbed-pulling hotshotter in a one-ton dually to stumbles through other trucks and growing "as bad as an accountant" with a focus on costs, revenue and profit per-trip.
February 10, 2023
Overdrive Radio Feb. 10, 2023, cover
Trucker of the Year
Always headed home: Owner-op pulls in profit with a single goal in mind
January Trucker of the Month Kelvin Schmidt's decade-plus career as an independent isn't, ultimately, about the trucking or simply making money. His operation's freight and rates consistency delivers profit and time back home where it belongs.
January 31, 2023
Kelvin Schmidt's 2018 Volvo, parked at home
Trucker of the Year
Calling the best of the best among owner-operators
Overdrive relaunches its Trucker of the Year competition catching back up with the last winner, Dan Heister, who remains at the top of his business' game while building a fleet of vintage Fords and a trucking legacy at his new home.
December 7, 2022
Overdrive Trucker of the Year banner/logo
Overdrive Radio
'Knock on wood,' Owner-Op of the Year Glen Horack's money-making ways set to grow
Listen in on lessons learned by decades-long owner Horack, who started team driving with his wife, Karla, after 2008, the one year -- "knock on wood," Horack said -- his one-truck business truly struggled in the depths of the Great Recession.
August 26, 2022
overdrive radio logo with glen horack, his wife and children, and his semi-truck
Previous Page
Page 5 of 9
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Top Stories
Us Venezuela Flags Oil Adobe Stock 1866630201
Business
Could U.S. action in Venezuela bring diesel prices down?
Not likely anytime soon, analysts say. The monetary and time investment to ramp up oil production in Venezuela means little near-term impacts on the global oil market. At once, experts predict good tidings for diesel prices through early 2026.
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Custom Rigs
'Better than a horse and buggy': 1935 International a family heirloom
Cast your votes for your favorite Custom Rigs video in each of the two semi-final matchups at the bottom of this post, or at this link, to determine which trucks move on to the final round.
Custom Rigs
Custom Rigs Showdown: Old iron rules the quarterfinal round
Combined (1) Mh
Equipment
$9,500 tariff on a new truck? 2027 emissions regs pre-buy in question
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Overdrive Radio
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